"To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrows" - Art journaling

 Hello,

 and welcome to a new week of crafting!

Today I'm sharing an art journal spread I created over the weekend. I'm still struggling with finding my mojo, but watching art videos on Youtube and playing with all the inspiring goodies by Vicky Papaioannou is really helping, and this spread was inspired by one of Vicky´s art journal pages where she planted flowers in the wellies from her ephemera pack.





This was not what I had envisioned when I started working on this spread, but once again my mistakes led me in another direction than the one I intended. And I must say I absolutely love it!

My plan was to create a page, not a two page spead, in blues and greens, so I started of by ink blending the right hand side of this spead in those colours, but somehow I managed to mess it up completely. I didn't know how to save the page and thought the only way was to paint it over with black paint, but I didn't want to create another black background. My eyes caught sight of an ink pad with Distress oxide in Vintage photo laying on my table, and I grabbed it and started swiping it across the page. It looked aweful! In a desperate attempt to clean it of I grabbed a baby wipe and started rubbing on the Oxide ink. I didn't get it all but it matted the colour. The left side of the spread looked very bare next to the brown mess on the right side so I took the baby wipe, full of oxide ink, and rubbed across the left side. It left the most beautiful wood effect look on the page, and I almost wish I had stopped there (or at least taken a photo of it). The right side was still a brown mess so I decided to try to salvage it by using some white Distress paint over it, which I applied using a brayer. Then I just went for it with stamps and inks. I had no clue on what to create until I saw, in the corner of my eye, my Vicky Papaioannou's ephemera pack with those green wellies. As Vicky I planted some flowers in my wellies, and finished the spread by adding some rubbons, some splatters and a sentiment to the spread. The sentiment " To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrows" is a quote by Audrey Hepburn.

Products used:
Art journal: "Create Happiness" Mixed Media Journal by Vicky Papaioannou/Stamperia
Paint and ink: Distress Paint "Picket Fence", Distress Oxide "Vintage Photo" and Distress Ink "Black Soot" by Tim Holtz/Ranger, Brilliance "Moonlight white" by Tsukineko
Ephemera: "Create Happiness" ephemera pack and Rub Ons by Vicky Papaioannou/Stamperia
Sentiment: DYMO LetraTag

I hope you like my spread, I love it!
If you've made it this far, reading all my text, I'm truly impressed!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really appreciate you taking the time!
Take care, have fun and keep crafting!

Jane
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AAA Cards Challenge Game 224 - Colour Scheme + optional twist Dots or Spots

 Hello,
It's time for a new CAS card challenge over at AAA Cards!
This fortnight we have a colour scheme for you, with the optional twist of Dots or Spots.

Here's the cue card




and now for my take on the challenge

As you can see I decided to go with the twist.
To create my dots/spots I used some Transfer gel Duo through a stencil. When it had dried I cut out tiny pieces of deco foil in red, pink, yellow and blue and placed over the gel dots/spots before running it through my die cutting machine. Then it was just to peel away the access foil to reveal the shiny little dots/spots. I stamped a sentiment saying "Idag firar vi dig!/ Today we celebrate you!", stamp set by hÄnglar & Wings.

For more information and inspiration from the talented Design Team, and our special Guest Designer Vicki Dutcher, please visit AAA Cards Challenge blog!

I hope you'll join us!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I really appreciate it!
Take care and keep crafting!

Jane
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Enjoy the Journey - art journaling/mixed media

 Hello,

I'm so enjoying creating in my new Mixed media art journal, and it feels like my mojo is slowly coming back. It's so inspiring to watch the talented Vicky Papaioannou's videos on Youtube, and for this spread I started of by following  some of the steps in Vicky's "recipe".

I started of with some ink blending, followed by splatters and stamping. As I thought my pages looked a little bit like a map from above I decided to go for a travel theme, which is perfect as I'm on a bit of a creative journey at the moment, learning new skills as I'm trying to find my mojo.

Products used:
Journal: Mixed Media Journal "Create Happiness" by Vicky Papaioannou and Stamperia
Ephemera: "Create Happiness" by Vicky Papaioannou and Stamperia
Rubon: "Create Happiness" by Vicky Papaioannou and Stamperia
Stamps: "Lacy Graffiti #60" by Olga Heldwein for AALL & Create, "Create happiness clear stamps" by Vicky Papaioannou and Stamperia, Alphabet stamp set by Studio Calico
Ink: Distress Oxide " Salty Ocean" and "Vintage photo" by Tim Holtz and Ranger
Paint: Distress Paint "Vintage photo" and "Picket fence" By Tim Holtz and Ranger
Word strips: Dymo LetraTag

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I really appreciate it!
Take care and keep crafting!

Jane
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Mixed media journaling - Live your life in colour

 Hello Crafty friends,

I have found it really difficult to craft lately, I've totally lost my mojo.
I have so many cards I need to make, and want to create, but I have no inspiration. So to try to find that mojo again I've decided to try to create something every week, even if it doesn't turn out the way I want it to. I've also decided to try out new (to me) products and techniques to see if that can spark my mojo into gear.

When I took part in the Summer craft bingo at Pyssloteket this summer I gave art journaling and mixed media a go and found it to be so much fun, but really challenging. So inspired by those challenges and Vicky Papaioannou's amazing videos on YouTube, I've invested in a Mixed Media journal.

This page took me so long to create. I started of by ink blending my pages but it looked awful, so I ripped up an old book and clued pieces of the book pages on top of my ink blending. To try to give the pages some colour I got some Distress paint down on my pages, but once again it turned out horrible. Feeling defeated I grabbed some black acrylic paint and painted over the whole thing, and thought this is not for me......

but then I looked at the pages and thought to myself " it looks a little like a black board", and from there these pages emerged.

Products used:
Mix media journal by Vicky Papaioannou and Stamperia
Die set "Art Tulip" by Vicky Papaioannou and Spellbinders
Rainbow die set by My Favorite Things
Stamp "CLBP 11" by CREAlies
Distress Paint "picket fence" by Tim Holtz and Ranger
Black acrylic by flyingtiger

AAA Birthday Game # 41 - Moodboard

 Hello,

It's the first Monday of the month, and it's time for a new challenge at AAA Birthday. This month we have a moodboard for you. You can take inspiration from anything on the board, the yarn, the bricks, the colours, the flowers, the hedgehog or maybe the stripes....
the possibilities are almost endless.

Here's the cue card

and a close up of the moodboard

I took inspiration from the yarn, the flowers and some of the colours on the board, and here's how my card turned out

Products used;

Stamps: "Knitting" background stamp by Darkroom door, "Poppy Garden" by Altenew
Inks: "Tumbled Glass" Distress Oxide by Tim Holtz/ Ranger, "Memento Tuxido Black" by Tsukineko
Markers: Copic 
Sentiment: Dymo LetraTag
Enamel dots "Transparent" by Nellie's Choice

For more information, and inspiration from the talented Design Team, please visit AAA Birthday's challenge blog. 

I hope you've been inspired to join in the fun as I and the rest of the Design Team can't wait to see your Birthday cards inspired by the moodboard!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really appreciate you taking the time!
Take care and keep crafting!

Jane 

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AAA Cards Challenge Game #223 - No Layers + optional twist Sympathy card

 Hello,

It's time for a new challenge at AAA Cards.
This fortnight we are challenging you to create CAS cards without any layers, and if you want to there is an optional twist - Sympathy cards.

Here's the cue card

For my take on the challenge I decided to go with the twist and make a sympathy card. It's never fun to make these cards, but unfortunatelly they are needed sometimes.

As this is a "No Layer" card I have ink blended, through a stencil, and stamped directly on my card base. 

Products used
Stamp set: Flower Silhouettes by My Favorite Things
Stencil: Mini Stencil Set 52 by Tim Holtz
Ink: Distress Oxide "Salty Ocean" by Tim Holtz/Ranger, Memento "Tuxedo Black" by Tsukineko

For more information on the challenge please visit the AAA Cards challenge blog, where you'll also find more inspiration by the amazing Design Team and our Guest Designer for this challenge, Karen.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I really appreciate it!
Take care and keep crafting!

Jane
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